CHAPTER 17

Obviously, I spent the next days training on the same moves I had been. They had delivered me a victory against a gym trainer, and they would help me immensely against Roark. We took very little breaks, apart from waiting for the results of Denzel’s gym trainer battle in the lobby. He came out with a huge smile on his face and had apparently done even better than expected, just like I had.

“Eevee should be able to deal with it— I don’t want to use Budew at all, which is a shame because I caught her specifically for this gym,” He said. “But our Double Kick, Quick Attack combo is lethal.”

“I hope so,” I responded dryly. I was too focused on strategy to have a conversation, as rude as it sounded.

Every moment I didn’t spend training was spent going through battle scenarios in my head. I went through as many battle videos as possible, analyzing each one of Roark’s Pokemon and moves to be ready for anything. Some nights, I would barely sleep at all, much to Togepi’s chagrin. She was worried about me, the little sweet thing. I couldn’t stop, though. I was so close, and I would better be safe than sorry. Plus, gathering information about Roark calmed my nerves, even though I was still terrified.

“Are you sure you’re okay with taking a day off work to watch me?” I asked Dad the night before my battle. “I don’t want you to get scolded by your boss.”

“Nonsense. I had a lot of sick days saved up, and the new Poketch is finally out. Plus, I think the higher-ups are going a little bit insane— they have this whole marketing idea with clowns…”

Dad kept talking about his work. I wanted to cut him off at multiple points to get some last-minute studying in, but I felt bad. He didn’t have any friends— more like work acquaintances— and now that Togepi and I were gone, he didn’t have anybody to talk to. He was fully confident I was going to make it, and his belief in me did more to help than he could ever imagine. After our call, which lasted an hour and a half, I looked at the time. 11:23 pm. If I started back up again at midnight, I’d have four hours or so to study Roark, and then I could sleep for another five. Before that, however, I called my mother.

“Your battle is tomorrow? Oh, Arceus, I’ll have to go to Ronald and Casey’s place to watch, our house doesn’t have the internet.”

“Just internet, mom. No ‘the’ at the start. Anyway, it’s at five-thirty, so make sure to root for me,” I said.

“Of course, I will. I’m sure you’ll do very well!” She said. I could tell she was smiling on the other side of the call.

I had been nervous about reconnecting with mom, but to be honest, it was… nice. Her voice felt reassuring in a way that I couldn’t explain. I was glad dad made me go to Twinleaf that day. We spent thirty minutes or so just chit-chatting about anything that came to mind. Herdier was doing better than ever, and there had been no ‘weird people’— which was how we had described that shady organization to them before we left— hanging around Twinleaf

“You should go to sleep, Grace. It’s almost midnight, and you’ve got a big day tomorrow,” Mom told me.

“Don’t worry about me, I’m fine. I’ll stay up for a little while longer.”

“I’m not going to tell you what to do— you’ve been doing fine without me in your life so far. But from experience, you’ll do better during an important day if you had your full eight hours the night before. You’re exhausted, aren’t you? I can tell.”

“I’m… I’m fine.”

“Do what you think is right, Grace. I… I love you. Was that fine to say? Is it too early?” She asked with a shaky voice.

I let out a little gasp and hung up out of surprise before throwing my Poketch on the other side of the bed. Her words had jolted me out of my dazed state, and I was now fully awake. Waking up like this made me realize that she had been right. I was tired.

I sighed and got into bed before drifting off to sleep.

——

“And you’re okay with bright, flashing lights?” A gym trainer asked me.

I nodded.

“Sounds good,” He said as he finished fitting me with a microphone. “There… you… go! On you go! Oh, and reminder not to touch Kadabra’s barriers. That can mess with them, and we certainly don’t want that. Good luck out here, challenger!”

I nodded again and got ready to step into the arena. The night had passed so quickly. One second I was awake, and the other, the sun was shining through my curtains. I bit the inside of my lip to stop my teeth from chattering, and I wiped my hands on my jeans before stepping outside. I raised my hand to cover my eyes, trying to get used to the light. There were a lot less people than there had been for Chase or Cecilia’s matches, but there were still thousands here. And that wasn’t accounting for the people watching from the comfort of their homes.

My entire body felt tight. Like I was getting squeezed until I’d pop. I had to remind myself to breathe before I stepped toward the area designated for trainers— a slightly elevated rectangular platform. A few seconds later, Roark did the same. He looked older than he was, with deep-set lines running across his face and rectangular glasses.

“Welcome, challenger,” Roark said nonchalantly. “This will be a two-on-two battle with one switch-in allowed. I reserve the right to use any Pokemon in my arsenal that I deem fit, and killing any Pokemon will get you disqualified from the League Circuit. Now, send out your Pokemon.”

“Alright Grace, y—you’ve got this,” I told myself after a few deep breaths.

A few people in the audience started laughing, confusing me until I remembered that I had a microphone on. I drew a sharp breath and apologized, which provoked more laughs.

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I wanted to die.

I hurriedly grabbed Frillish’s Pokeball with a sweaty hand and almost dropped it before releasing him on the field. He was a little taken aback by the uniqueness of the situation, but I had warned him ahead of time, along with Togepi. After a few seconds, he was ready.

Roark nodded and a small rock-like creature covered in shining diamonds floated into the air. It was one of Roark’s rarest Pokemon to use, but I had still studied it, so I knew what to expect.

“Begin!” The referee said.

“Power Gem,” Roark said.

Instantly, my mind went from a nervous wreck to overdrive as everything I had learned in the last few days rushed back to me.

“Just like we practiced! Dodge with Water Sport!” I yelled out.

A few shining light rays appeared next to Carbink and rushed toward Frillish, who quickly propelled himself out of the way with a jet of water.

“Now Bubblebeam it!” I said.

Frillish reared his head back, and then forward as a mass of bubbles escaped from his mouth faster than they had ever been.

“Light Screen.”

A shiny barrier surrounded the floating Carbink, weakening Frillish’s attack. From what I studied, it was one of Roark’s most defensive-minded Pokemon.

“Keep it going, buddy!”

The Bubblebeam didn’t stop. After twenty seconds or so, the Light Screen was broken. Carbink attempted to move out of the way, but Frillish homed in on it with incredible accuracy.

“Get behind a boulder!” Roark said, raising his voice.

Carbink chimed and escaped from our relentless attack. Frillish stayed up in the air as we waited for Roark’s next move.

“Ancient Power, then rush it!” Roark said after a few seconds.

Ancient power and not Smack Down? I thought. That was new!

A few rocks were surrounded by blue light and levitated toward Frillish. Slowly at first, and then extremely quickly. Without needing my command, he dodged the first few with Water Sport, but he was hit by two. Before he could even recuperate, he was hit directly by Carbink’s Tackle and began falling to the ground.

“No! Focus! Get him away from you with Night Shade!” I screamed, letting panic slip into my voice.

“Fri!”

A shadowy replica of Frillish appeared behind the two falling Pokemon and dashed through the Carbink, getting it off of him. With another jet of water, Frillish stopped himself from hitting the ground too hard, and he was back in the air in seconds. Carbink crashed into the field, kicking up an insane amount of sand, rocks, and dust.

“Don’t let it recover! Bubblebeam again!”

Frillish started hitting the plume with multiple, short attacks until he found his opponent thanks to its chime of pain. He focused on that area until it was revealed that Carbink had fainted.

“Carbink is unable to battle. Leader Roark, send out your last Pokemon.” The referee said.

One more, I thought. One more, and I’m fucking golden.

Roark smirked and returned his Carbink before sending out his last Pokemon.

What would it be, I thought to myself anxiously as the red form materialized into shape. One of his strongest?

Needless to say, I couldn’t help but be disappointed when I saw a large Geodude appear. On one hand, it was the one I had studied the most, but on the other, it stung to know that I wasn’t good enough to warrant using one of Roark’s main threats.

“Up high, Frillish!” I said, recalling my plan. “As high as you can, then Bubblebeam!”

Frillish began to float upward—

“Rock Throw, crush variation.” Roark said.

Crush variation? What was—

Geodude’s body crackled as it flexed its arms before grabbing a huge rock. Using its hands, it crushed the rock down to rubble and then threw them at incredible speeds toward Frillish.

“Shit! Frillish, Water Sport—”

He was already using the move before I even finished, propelling himself downward to dodge the barrage of rocks making its way toward him. Unfortunately, they covered an area too large to dodge. I swallowed as my Pokemon was hit by a dozen of small rocks, penetrating through its body. If he hadn’t been a ghost type, he would be bleeding right now.

“Another one, Geodude!”

If this keeps up, I’m done, I thought.

“Don’t let him! Attack, attack, attack!” I yelled out.

A stream of bubbles rushed out of Frillish’s mouth, but they were simply popped by Geodude’s attack, and only a few reached their target. Meanwhile, another dozen rocks hit Frillish, staggering him.

This isn’t working.

“Get down, and then get close with Water Sport!”

Frillish deactivated his levitation powers and fell to the ground like a ragdoll before propelling himself with a jet of water seconds before hitting the ground.

“Rock Polish before another throw!” Roark screamed.

Geodude shone for a few seconds and then crushed another rock. It threw the rubble toward Frillish hard, and it would deal more damage now that the distance was lower. I gambled that he’d be able to take it anyway.

Frillish spun around and tried as best he could to evade the oncoming rocks, but the majority of them still hit him. He slowed a little, but kept going.

“Wrap around him and then Absorb!”

He bumped his soft body into Geodude and wrapped his tentacles around it before sucking its energy.

Roark’s eyes widened. “Get him off of you quick!”

Foregoing levitation, Geodude used its two hands to run toward the biggest boulder he could find before ramming into it. Frillish bore the brunt of the damage, and after struggling to get off the ground for a few seconds, he fainted.

“You did great,” I said as I retrieved Frillish. “I’ll give you lots to eat later.”

“Frillish is unable to battle. Challenger, send out your last Pokemon.”

I sent out Togepi.

“Frillish is out. It’s up to you and me, princess!”